So I've been told

I've always heard "You're selling yourself short!". Constantly, actually.

After pouring over articles, books, and magazines about "How to Price Your Work" I came up with my own personal way to satisfy myself and my customer. I didn't want to live with the guilt of making a buyer pay $900 for a 16x20 painting that took me 14 hours to do. My way of pricing things may not be ever in my favor, but I am fair. And that makes me happy. 

I charge my customer for what my time is worth and for the supplies that it takes me to make the painting. It varies a little bit, but my constant is that I keep up with my time on an excel spreadsheet and I simply plug in the numbers. I don't really have any other expenses, I work from a home office/studio so I'm passing this lack of other expenses on to my customers. This is my full time job, I'm never going to stop painting so why not make my work affordable to the public. 

I have also come across the problem of people telling me my work is too expensive for them and try to bargain their way down to a major discount. Reasonable negotiations are welcomed, but please respect that I must get paid, too. My prices are fair and I stand for that.

My ultimate goal is to make art a presence in everyone's life, and to put my art in every home. I want everyone to appreciate art and to be able to afford it if they want it. Sure, my art is a "luxury item" and a couple extra hundred or even $50 may take a little bit to let go of, especially if you have never bought art before, and in this economy... If you've thought to yourself "I'd like to have that", there is a reason. Art "speaks" to you and either reminds you of a memory or makes you feel a certain way. Purchasing art is an investment and can be passed down from generation to generation.

So, my affordable prices do not reflect a lack of self worth, they simply reflect a simple and reasonable calculation. I could go on and on, but these particular thoughts are on my mind now and I needed to say them. All of this is my personal findings/thoughts, but other visual artists have very different other opinions. For each your own.

Pet Portait SALE

For only $50 you can have your very own pet's portrait made. Make your pet even more spoiled and feeling like royalty and get your pet's face on an 8x10 with a solid color background of your choice.

This is such a great deal that the spaces are limited and first come first serve. Reserve your spot today by emailing me at the address below!

This sale ends 10/26.

Holiday Commission Openings

Looking for that one of a kind Christmas present? Want to out-do the co-worker gift swap this year? Need something for that person who has everything? You've come to the right place, my friend! I'm taking Holiday Commission Orders as of October 1st and will continue to do so until December 5th or until openings are filled. 

You can request just about anything! For some ideas you can click the "Commissions" tab to check some out! For some examples, I did a cardinal for someone because that was their Mom's favorite bird. I created a portrait of two children with colored pencil (Coy and Caroline in the Commissions tab). I also did a beaded flower painting for coworkers. The beaded paintings are great for desks. And pet portraits are all the rage! And landscapes are my specialty. 

If you have an idea, email me and lets talk! 

 

Personal Project For My Fans:

Alright, so every once in a while I get thoughts and questions in my head about where all my art is. Of course, I have several waiting to find a home in my very own studio closet (hint hint, any of you potential buyers), but for now I am talking about the 100s - wow, is it really 100? - of artworks that have found their cozy home and made so many people happy. 

I'm challenging all of my buyers, patrons, and admirers of old and young to please take a photo(s) of your "Samantha Floyd Fine Art" original and show me what you've done or where you've put my art work! Whether it be in your home, bedrooms, office, desk, classroom, I want to see it! I want to be inspired and motivated to make more art. After all, you are what keeps me going. Plus, it will be so awesome to see my work in your space!

This ongoing project will be posted on my Facebook and here on this blog! So please participate in this fun project with me! 

And any of you that want to purchase an artwork and then partake in this great little event, you are more than welcome to contact me about any art work. Hehe :) 

Thanks and this is to be continued...

Things went well!

I'm an artist, not a writer. So that is my excuse for not posting much on here.

I would love to thank each and everyone of you for coming out to the Fence Show and said hello! The fence show was definitely one to never forget! I had friends from Delaware come out with "I heart Samantha Floyd Fine Art" shirts! I've even had several people tell me they came by my fence space but I was always so busy with people stopping and saying hello and asking about my art that they couldn't get a word in! Deepest apologies, but it's good to be that busy sometimes, right?

Thanks so much to everyone that came out and supported me!

62nd Annual Fence Show!

Please come join me and many other artists displaying their art at the longest running art show in NYC! 

I will be set up with all my new works for sale. I have very small to very large artworks to display! I'm very excited to announce that I even have people from Delaware coming out to support me. Will you be there!?

Saturday, September 15, 11:00am - 5:00pm
*Rain date* Sunday, September 16
Location: Front Lawn, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, 1000 Richmond Terrace, SI, NY 10301
Free

Here is where you can find all the information:

http://www.statenislandmuseum.org/calendar-programs/62nd-annual-fence-show

Refreshing Myself

This weekend I had the opportunity to take a workshop led by the wonderful Patrizia Vignola. This workshop was a drapery study with charcoal. When I saw this workshop I knew I had to do it. It took me literally a month to fight myself and sign up for it. The reason: I dislike drawing. Drawing is a must have skill in the art world, there is no way around it and no doubt about it.

Walking into the workshop was nerve racking. She quickly began to refresh the students on the shapes, shadows, and types of drawing techniques. I stood there thinking to myself "Oh crap, I haven't drawn in 3 years, what if I suck?". When we sat down to begin drawing, it took me a while to even put one mark on my paper. I was overwhelmed. However, once I let out a big breath, that first mark quickly became a mind consuming whirl. I had dived back in to the world of drawing as easily as I had slipped out of it 3 years ago. I couldn't believe how familiar the charcoal felt in my hand. Before I knew it, the class had 30 minutes left to it! Patrizia had put a very ambitious drapery on the wall, so no one really finished their drawings. But I was very proud of myself that I had opened myself up and conquered my fear of "being bad" at drawing because after stepping back from the drawing, it looked quite alright!

I will be doing more drapery studies and more drawing studies from now on. Being a painter isn't just about painting. I have to refresh myself and be a well rounded artist!

Here is the unfinished drapery drawing.

I also want to remind everyone that I still have a few 2011 artworks on a discount. I am getting a bit cramped in my studio and must make room for more! Please see my previous blog post to see this sale or click here http://samanthafloydart.blogspot.com/2012/07/making-room-for-more-great-deals-for-you.html

Making Room For More = Great Deals For You!!

If you follow my page "Samantha Floyd Fine Art" on Facebook, then you probably know that I have been a busy little bee. I am creating a new collection of work and painting more of my beloved landscapes. On top of all this, my commission work is in full force. I am setting aside time to work on my personal collection of paintings for the rest of the year (don't worry, commissions are top priority and I am still accepting them with open arms!). So with all that being said, I really have to make room for the new work in my studio.

Whatever I have left from the 2011 work year is discounted 40% off.

This post, if you scroll down has every painting that is discounted. The price listed is the  sale price. Sales can be negotiable. The descriptions are the titles, size, and sale price. Art is a great gift, and Christmas is less than 6 months away. The size of the piece determines the shipping and will be discussed through email or phone.

 Please email me for purchase, first come first served: 

SamanthaFloyd821@gmail.com

770-547-0039 

Click on any photo to enlarge.

Power Lines 30x40... $210

Foggy Morning: View from my window 30x40... $240

Sunset Field 12x16... $72

Optimistic. 8x10...  $48

Lily 18x24 ... $120

Samantha 18x24... $120

It's Coming 18x24... $54

The Evening Light 12x24... $120

Good Night, Harbor 30x40... $210

Daddy 30x40... $180

Having an Artist Moment

I was blessed to be able to go to Aruba this past week and enjoy a completely new climate/culture/view/food...everything! I was in an artist's paradise. This trip cleansed my palette and I was engulfed in the beauty of a whole new world. Two nights I came out to sit and watch the sunset on the beach. I had and still do not have words to describe what I saw. The sunset was brilliant. Even the photos I captured do not do the scenes justice. All I could do was stop and shake my head. Experiences like this last a lifetime and more in an artist's head. I must have taken hundreds of photos within the 2 half hour spans. The compliments between the sea and the sun as the colors changed was so majestic that I thought I would just burst with excitement. My poor fiance was stuck in the middle of all this, he enjoyed the sunsets, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't the same experience. Poor guy. He had to put up with a tearful, excited, humbled little ole artist girl going temporarily mad with clicks of the camera shutter going off every half second. So there you have it, my artist moment....
 So I wanted to post some photos I took of those two nights and allow you to see just what God's hand crafted that night. (I think He knew I was watching).

 Enjoy!

(And you know paintings are definitely in the works of this trip)

-Samantha

I'll be back!

I want to wish everyone a safe and fantastic 4th of July!

I will be taking off July 4th - 11th.

Email is always the best way to contact me, but I will be out of the country so please be patient until I can reply on the 12th.

Thanks so much for your continued support! Please share this blog and my Facebook page with all your friends and anyone you think would be interested in my work!

-Samantha

www.facebook.com/samanthafloydart

Lately

I have had the opportunity to work with some really fantastic people the past few months on their commissions. 

In February I got to paint an awesome landscape scene for a kind gentleman. He lost his wife last year and wanted to have a painting done in memory of her and her favorite thing- sunsets at the Outerbridge right outside her home in Staten Island. The gentleman also had me paint him and his wife sitting on a bench in front of the whole thing. He had a reception and unveiling in his home for the painting. I was floored by the amount of people that came to see the painting in her memory. That was truly an amazing commission.

Later, I painted a set of windows from a building erected in 1888 in lower Manhattan. The patron that commissioned me to paint them is a construction worker that helped restore that building. He saved this set of windows from the garbage and had an incredible idea to have an artist paint what would the window would have seen in the years it was first put in. He wanted the NYC harbor as it was in 1888. So I went to researching for old photos and details of what the boats would have looked like. He recommended that I put the SS Germanic in the picture because that boat is known for carrying over Irish immigrants in that time. I should note that my patron is Irish.- I thought this was such a grand idea for him to think of and I am quite honored to have been apart of his grand idea.

I have also been working on lots of little pets lately and I still have several more to paint! It is such a great experience to paint someone's pet and watch their face as I unveil the portrait to the owner. It is usually laughter, because they say I capture the personality so well. I love these responses! 

If you have a commission you would like me to do, please do not hesitate to email me. It takes up to 6 weeks for completion so if you would like your commission for a gift in time, please plan accordingly. Once you email me, I will email you my Commission Request Information sheet and you can make your decisions about your commissions more knowledgeably. Emailing me does not mean it is set in stone, inquiring first has to happen so that you may know more about what I do, so please don't hesitate to ask! 

Here are some of the commissions I have mentioned in this post:

Ama's Sunset. 2012. Oil on Canvas. 30x40

1888 NYC Harbor. 2012. Acrylic on Window glass.

Gabby. 2012. Acrylic on Canvas Board. 8x10.

Trying to clear up some questions:

So I have been asked a lot about sizes of canvas... Unless you have the canvas right in front of you, it is hard to imagine how large it would be on your wall. I've been asked to take photos of my work and compare them to objects and people. So I have done just that! I really hope this helps and I can always take more photos in the future!

My wonderful fiance helping me out! :) From left to right the sizes are: 30x40, 24x30, 18x24, 16x20, 12x16

Showing them again with object to compare them to.

And this is a 30x40 (Boats, 2010) on my living room wall.

TWO discounts, ending Friday!

This week I have TWO great specials running! 

I am giving customers half off of their commissioned pet portrait. So for $10/hour + cost of canvas you can have a painting of your pet (with or without beads)! If you are interested you can email me at samanthafloyd821@gmail.com and you can tell me what size canvas you want and I can give you a quote. Initially I had 3 spots open for this special, but 1 has already been taken so act fast because this special ends Friday.

Example of Pet Portrait: "Charlie". 2012. Acrylic and seed beads. 8x10.

Also, my hand painted decorative clocks are all 20% off! Email me for purchase! I take Paypal or any major credit card. $7 shipping if applicable.

Lily Icon Clock. 12x12. $30. Acrylic on Canvas.

Baby Owl Clock. 6x6. $30. Acrylic on Wood.

Sun and Moon Clock. 12x12. Oil on Wood. $35

Aboriginal Style Clock. 8x10. Acrylic on Canvas. $30.

"An Introduction" for sure

This weekend was the opening reception of Artist Street's "An Introduction". To give you a little background on Artist Street: Raul "Rez" Barquet was the first friend in Staten Island that I met. We began having conversations about the artists and the art scene in general in Staten Island. We asked, "where are all the young emerging artists like us?". We soon met Gustavo Galvan at Art Lab at their "Open Show" Reception where all of us had a piece showing. Soon after, Gustavo was on board with finding other artists like us. We wanted a community of us. Meeting at the local diners and then soon moving our meetings to Gustavo's apartment, we started "Artist Street". The mission of Artist Street was simple: "Artist Street is a group of young artists that work together to enhance the experience of being an artist on Staten Island through collaboration and cooperation." The reason for the name Artist Street is because it is an avenue of opportunity that can be anywhere. We have no one place we belong. We are on Artist Street. The ideas were flowing limitless between the 3 of us. Art Lab is a large part of all of our lives and we thought that their gallery was perfect to have our first show. Art Lab's gallery is beautiful, professional, and perfect for Artist Street. Once we got an acceptance letter from our proposal to the board members, we put the call to artists out and the response was great!

"An Introduction" is a self portrait exhibition. Since it is our first show, we wanted to "introduce" ourselves and show the community who we are not only personally, but artistically. I think we did just that. The artists that are showing in this exhibition are:

Erica DiNiso

Desiree Arroyo

Dannie Compono

Samantha Floyd

Raul "Rez" Barquet

Gustavo Galvan

Cana Sarnes

Zoe Tirado

Tabitha Turchio

Jimmy Bricks

Emily Peters

Keri Sheheen

Jason Passalaqua

Imam Asad

I am honored to show with each of these artists and without them this show couldn't have happened.

Here are some photos from the opening. The show runs until the 24th so please go to Art Lab in Snug Harbor Cultural Center (1000 Richmond Terrace, SINY Building H).

As you come into the exhibition, this is the first thing you see

The gallery was filling up! We had this gallery jam packed!

NY1 even came out to interview us!

 For more info on anyone I have mentioned you can visit
 www.facebook.com/artiststreet
www.artlab.info
or email
artiststreetinfo@gmail.com
For the NY1 interview visit: http://statenisland.ny1.com/content/top_stories/162389/self-portrait-exhibit-opens-in-snug-harbor

And you can click on my "Upcoming" page to see more info on the show card for "An Introduction".

A lot going on!

There is so much to post about!

First off, the young artist collective in Staten Island that I helped found (Artist Street) is having their first group exhibition June 2nd from 2-4 at the Art Lab in SINY. This is going to be such a great event to meet up and coming artists and to support our talents. I encourage you to come. Yesterday was drop off day for art work and I saw some amazing pieces that were definitely sure to be show stoppers.

Secondly, I want to invite you to my Etsy shop. I have all of my ACEOs available for purchase, beaded paintings, some originals, and prints!

Please stop in and check it out here---> www.etsy.com/shop/samanthafloydart

Artist Trading Card Show 5-20-12

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take part in Art Lab's first ever Artist Trading Card Swap. It was a lot of fun and a learning experience for everyone. Here are some pictures as everything took place yesterday!

The show cards next to the Staten Island Advance article about the show!

Among the crowd checking everything out!

Me, next to my art work. (The top strand)

A sure sign of a "Leo"

My self portrait is something I've been brewing for some time now. I knew exactly what picture to use of myself. But then again, did I want it to be some clever interpretation that left everyone guessing what the painting was actually was supposed to represent? No. I wanted it to be me. Literally.

I started to think about describing myself. Now, if you are a Leo, you know exactly what it means to be a Leo and you are darn proud to be one. So all these words described as being a Leo was what I wanted to bring forth in this painting. "Proud, Creative, Self-assured, Warm-hearted, Vivacious, Ambitious, Loving, Daring" I mean, need I say more? :) This painting demonstrates me and gives you a sense of the person I am. I wanted an in your face picture of me to capture your attention and to draw you in, another Leo specialty. My hair is slightly blowing away to represent my readiness and ambition for moving forward. My earring is a heart that represents that I wear my heart on my sleeve, but also my warm heart towards others. And in my pupil you can barely see, but it is there, the symbol for Leo.

So you see, this is simply not just a painting of my big ole face. Its much more. Hope you enjoy.

-Samantha

This painting will be hung in "An Introduction" and Artist Street Exhibition in Staten Island, NY at the Art Lab. The opening is June 2nd from 2-4. Click my "Upcoming" tab to read more about this show.

Busy Bee..

This is my ongoing project of ACEOs. The 2 butterflies are beaded and the orange is painted. All the others are colored pencil. I have one more not complete yet and it will be beaded. I'll have these up on my Etsy shop within 24 hours.

The orange is so great I think. I'm on a diet and have been eating oranges a lot and realized how pretty they are while slicing them up. Haha 

I think I like the beads on these ACEO's a lot so I will definitely be doing several more.

Ok, last post today, I swear!

I have almost completed my self portrait! Hooray! So here is a peak. I still have details on the shirt and earring to complete, but I'm pretty happy with it considering I haven't painted a person in almost 2 years. I actually enjoyed painting skin! Who knew?

Help me out and share this blog with your fellow bloggers, eh? 

Thanks! 

So I have been busy all morning! I've put my handmade clocks in my Etsy shop.. finally! Soon I will be putting my ACEO's up there as well! There is only so much art you can do in a day! :D

Please check it out! Remember to follow me here, on twitter, "Like" my facebook page. You wont be disappointed.

www.etsy.com/shop/samanthafloydart

 

Self Portrait WIP

I never do this, people! I am giving you a sneak peak on what I am working on. This is a new thing I'm trying out. Please leave some feedback. This is my self portrait I am working on for the Artist Street show in June! Hopefully today I will finish it. :)

 Once I finish, I'll explain the hidden meanings.

Updating

I'm being slow about getting this blog up, but I am really liking it so far! Please look around and come back and visit. Tell your friends while your at it!

Thanks!
-Samantha

I'm working on a self portrait now for the show in June. I'll be posting pics soon!

For more info on the show go to www.facebook.com/ArtistStreet

#1

I'm quite new to this. Giving Blogger a try.